BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/06/2008

Belarus’s Lukashenko promises democratic parlt elections

MINSK, June 24 (Itar-Tass) -- Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has promised that his country will hold transparent and democratic parliamentary elections.

“We wish to demonstrate to the West and to Russia the way elections are to be held. We shall make them so democratic, that you will certainly believe the results are real and see who has the people’s genuine support,” Lukashenko told the Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda in an interview. The presidential press-service made some extracts from the interview public on Tuesday. The full text of the publication will appear in print on July 3.

“It is our wish to hold the elections openly and democratically to ensure nobody have a chance to reproach us. Then we shall be able to say, “Come on, guys, what else are you expecting of Belarus?” the president said.

Lukashenko said some foreign observers had already arrived in Belarus, although the election campaign was just at the beginning. The Belarussian leader vowed he had nothing against the presence of foreign monitors even at this early stage, provided they complied with the country’s laws.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12807481&PageNum=0

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